Naomi W. Ledé
Naomi W. Ledé (Mary Allen College, 1953; TSU, 1955; UT-Arlington, 1972; University of Houston, 1979), is Distinguished Professor and Founder and Executive Director Emeritus of the Transportation Studies Program and Center for Transportation Training and Research (CTTR) at Texas Southern University (TSU). Her legacy is built upon five decades of transformational leadership in transportation education, research and service in Texas. Her special passion is mentoring minority students and introducing them to transportation careers.
During her 22 years at TSU, Ledé almost single-handedly developed and led CTTR, growing it into one of the strongest and most respected transportation centers in the country at a historically Black university. After retiring from TSU, Ledé served as Senior Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute for seven years leading a Summer Transportation Institute for minority students. She served on numerous boards, including the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County and the Governor’s Public Transportation Advisory Committee. She is a founding member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and received the first Sharon D. Banks Award for Innovative Leadership in Transportation from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies.